Taylor sat down on the couch in his living room and sighed. "I have to tell you, I'm not sure how I feel about them dating." He said, referring to his brother and Carter's sister.
Carter was sitting on the floor next to the entertainment center with one of her arms behind the tv. She was trying to fix the dvd player which needed one of the cables replaced after Taylor's 200 pound Saint Bernard, Kitty, ate the old one. "You don't really have a choice." She pulled her arm out from behind the tv and smiled. "There. Fixed. God, you're such a girl. Why couldn't you have done that?"
"I tried." He frowned. "My arm didn't fit behind the tv and I didn't feel like pulling the whole thing out. Plus, let's face it, nobody ever said I was the man in this relationship. We all know you could kick my ass if you wanted to."
Carter, planning on joining him on the couch to watch a movie, instead climbed onto his lap and straddled his legs, facing him. She wrapped her arms around him and held his face in her hands, kissing him softly on the lips. Then, she laid her head on his shoulder and smiled. "Still think I'm a man?"
"Who cares?" He laughed and kissed her neck. "So, back to this whole Meli and Zac thing. What do you know?"
Carter stayed where she was with her head on his shoulder. "It's not even a date. He just went with her to get a tattoo and then I think they were going to the bookstore. They're hanging out."
"But he likes her."
Carter shrugged and switched positions, sitting next to him. "We all know that."
"So, does she like him?"
"Uhm." She lied. "I dunno."
"Liar." Taylor laughed and kissed the top of her head. Then, not wanting to make her betray Melissa, dropped the subject. "So, Donnie Darko?"
"Do you even have to ask?"
"So, it really didn't hurt?" Zac asked as he watched Melissa scan a shelf of books in the metaphysical section of her favorite bookstore.
"Yeah it hurt. That was the best part." She smiled, referring to her new tattoo. She spent hours looking through her mother's old journals until she found the picture of a celtic knot that her mother had drawn. She could have easily downloaded it off of the internet but there was something more special about taking the journal to Jesse and having him copy it straight onto the back of her neck.
"I never would have coined you as a chick who's into pain."
"So much to learn." She smiled again. "Was it Hans Holzer who wrote that book Isaac and Katie had on their coffee table yesterday?"
"I think so." He grabbed the thickest book from the shelf and handed it to her. "It was this one. Why do you have to read it, anyway?"
"Because I haven't yet." She smiled as she took the book from him and sat down on the floor in the aisle.
Zac stood for a moment, watching her as she started browsing the book. She was wearing a black, a-line skirt that fell just below her knees and a light blue top that hung loosely off both of her shoulders. Her hair fell a few inches past her shoulders and hung in loose waves and looked as if she had taken a while to get it that way. He was so used to seeing her hair straight he hadn't been able to take his eyes off of her all day. "So, how'd you get your hair to look like that?"
"Like what?"
"All... not straight." He stuttered, sounding very much like a boy trying to describe something very girly.
Melissa laughed. "Oh. I went to bed with it in two braids and when I woke up and took it out, it looked like this." She said, shattering his illusion of her spending hours trying to make her hair look wonderful for him. She was still looking down at the book, reading the first page faster than he had ever seen anybody read.
Zac nodded, still staring. "You are so much smarter than me, it's crazy."
Melissa frowned and closed the book. "You don't really think that, do you?"
Zac finally sat down next to her and shrugged. "Well, yeah. You're smarted than everybody."
"Don't say that." She shook her head. "You're just as smart as me. I actually hate that word... smart. It's very misleading. Zac... You're one of the most intellegent people I know. Don't ever say I'm smarter than you."
"Ok. I won't."
"Besides. You read all the time. You've read like 3 books this week."
Zac laughed. "Yeah, about that... I didn't actually read those books. I was just kind of sitting there."
"Why?"
"So I could watch you read."
Melissa blushed and tried not to smile too obviously. "Oh... well as long as we're being honest, I don't normally read in your living room. I just liked reading with you."
"So we'll have to do that more often."
"As long as you actually read and stop just watching me read cause..." She looked over his shoulder and shuddered. "God, that's creepy."
"I... what? Me?"
Melissa laughed. "No, of course not. There's just this guy over there that's been staring at me for about ten minutes now. Either that or he's staring at you. Ew. He just licked his lips."
Zac turned around and looked at him. He was at least forty years old and somehow Zac could tell that he hadn't showered in a couple days. "Yeah. Stay here." She flashed her one last grin before pulling himself up and making his way over to where the man was sitting.
Melissa watched in wonder as Zac sat down next to the man and carried on a short conversation with him. Within moments, the man stood up and left the store. It seemed he couldn't get away fast enough. When Zac finally came back and sat down on the floor with her again, Melissa's mouth was hanging open. "What did you do? Threaten him?"
"No. I asked him out on a date." He grinned.
Melissa laughed loudly and slapped him on the knee.
"What? It worked! Besides, I'm not the threatening type."
"I know. I like that about you." She smiled. "Ok, are you ready to go? I just need to buy this first."
"Wait." Zac grabbed her arm before she had a chance to get up. "Can I ask you something first?"
"Uhm. Sure."
"Was this... I mean... do you think today was a date?"
"Uhm." Melissa bit her bottom lip. "I uhm... Do you?"
"Should I?"
She laughed. "Wow, this is going nowhere. Can I be honest?"
"I hope so. As long as you don't make me cry."
"I don't want it to be."
Zac's face fell. "Oh. Ok. That's cool. Ready to go?"
"Wait, no." She shook her head. "Let me explain. I don't want it to have been a date because... I'd rather have known the whole time that it was a date. So I can enjoy it."
Zac smiled, understanding, "So you didn't enjoy this?"
"You know what I mean." Melissa reached forward and brushed her hand against the side of his face. This was the second time she had done that in the same week and he still wasn't prepared for it. "I want next time to be a date. You know, maybe piercings and the library." She smiled, but before she had a chance to say anything else, Zac leaned forward and kissed her.
It was one of those kisses that was light, but seemed to linger forever. When he finally pulled away, he leaned in and kissed her again, as if he had already missed experiencing the first one.
Melissa's eyes stayed closed for a moment while he waited for her reaction. Then, she leaned forward and kissed him.
Zac smiled halfway through the kiss and started to laugh.
"What's so funny?"
He shook his head. "Nothing. I just remember a long time ago you said something about never kissing on a first date but I guess this doesn't really count, right?"
"Cause it wasn't a date." She grinned. "But next time, when it is a date..."
"Alright then, one more for the road." He smiled, kissed her again, and then pulled her up to her feet. "Let's go buy that book. And I swear, next time we read together in my living room, I'll try to look at the book and not you."